Merkel to fortify stance against Iran on nuke issue: report

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to shore up western stance against Iran when she visits the United States on Wednesday, German news agency DPA quoted officials as saying Tuesday.

The main objective of the chancellor's visit, the officials said, is to fortify solidarity of the international community in Iran's nuclear crisis.

Merkel has been under pressure from opposition parties to warn Washington not to use military actions against Iran and stick to the UN path to solve the matter.

The United States is considering military strikes on Iran, which resumed uranium enrichment activities despite international opposition.

Germany "is very interested in the international community's consolidated work" in resolving the Iranian nuclear problem, Merkel said last Thursday when she visited Russia's Siberian city of Tomsk to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement on March 29, calling on Iran to resume suspension of all uranium enrichment-related activities, and asked director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei to report the latest progress on Iranian compliance to the IAEA and the Security Council within 30 days.

Iran said on Tuesday it would suspend relations with the IAEA if sanctions were imposed.

Source: Xinhua